October 23rd, 2013

Two weeks before National Boss Day (NBD), which was Wednesday, October 16th, I sent an email to our department of (mostly) writers, asking them if they were interested in doing a little something for our boss, Laura, on NBD.

In the email, I suggested we each write a haiku about Laura, if they'd be interested in that, and then we could make her guess who wrote which one. To my surprise, and utter delight, they jumped all over the idea.

"I've got the denim duster," one replied, alluding to something Laura had shared with them about wearing such a garment many years ago.

Because Laura is known for wearing very high-heeled shoes, another replied, "Dibs on her shoes for my topic. It'll be a haishu," she added.

Someone else wrote back saying, "If one was about sneezing, it would be a haichoo!"

After reading those responses, this feeling came over me about my new job: "These are my people. Two of my favorite things: word lovers and witty repartee."

On the day, Laura was in an all-day meeting, and we blew up 75 red balloons and after situating some moveable whiteboards to block off her workstation area, we filled it up with them.

When she eventually returned from her meeting, we yelled surprise, and I read the haikus to her, while she tried to guess who wrote each one. Here they are for your reading pleasure:

From Brandon (on the team that overseas oversees our documentation getting translated into a multitude of languages):

I don't write haikusEn ingles ni esponolThanks for being you

From Matt (Zimbra is our email system):

Always on the moveShe meets so we don't have toZimbra pings again

From Bascha:

umbrella o'er usfoundation beneath our feetthus we stand as one

From Amy (alluding to Laura's running):

Sneakers hit the roadStretching to the finish lineVictory is here

From Zach (who accidentally bent the little card he had on which to write his haiku, so just incorporated that in):

The card may be bentBut our thanks are true as -- beerHappy Boss' Day

From me (alluding to Laura's habit of twirling her hair with two fingers while she's reading or thinking; RHEL is one of Red Hat's products):

Laura sits nearbyFingers twirling hair aboutContemplating RHEL

From Jared (who is not a writer by trade; we had to adjust his 5-6-6 to make it 5-7-5):

Tree leaves are fallingGamecock football is here. Be-cause of the Clowney

From Ashleigh: (who debated as to whether "acid washed" should be "acid-washed"):